perplex

The artifacts from Sanxingdui, as the site is known, stirred questions that still perplex experts four decades later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Joao Neves, Kvaratskhelia and Mendes ended up on the left flank in close proximity - an asymmetrical set-up intended to perplex Liverpool.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

Zika, a mosquito-borne virus first identified in 1947 in a Rhesus macaque monkey, continues to perplex scientists in many ways nearly 80 years later.

From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2025

This pattern of abruptly rejecting safe foods can perplex parents and clinicians alike and, on the surface, can look like dieting.

From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2025

“You puzzle me, Jane: your look and tone of sorrowful audacity perplex and pain me. I want an explanation.”

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Illegal shootings are “an overriding issue that just perplexes the heck out of me,” said Brian Millsap, an ornithologist at New Mexico State University.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

She perplexes the heart, in part because she's more than simply a Don Juan figure.

From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2022

“It’s one of the questions that perplexes me.”

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2022

This is the category that most perplexes analysts.

From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2021

This perplexes us, but perhaps we shall understand it, like so many other things, when we are older.

From Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family by Elizabeth Rundle Charles

Verdict: Matthias Jaissle was perplexed in his post-match interview, yet he would surely be furious if a Fulham player held one of his defenders back to create on onside corridor for another attacker to score.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

The band seems perplexed and concerned about the size of the crowd, with both Roger and Pete each taking turns to ask the crowd to take a few steps back.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026

Many people are perplexed about that because they are bombarded by Medicare-related mail as they approach 65 and assume they must do something new, says financial planner Stephen Maggard of Columbia, S.C.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

New Zealand police came to the rescue of a seal crossing a busy road, helping the perplexed pinniped pup back safely into the water, they said Monday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The president doesn’t seem alarmed, only somewhat perplexed, by this turn in events.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Matthew McConaughey stars as an Oklahoma honeymaker in a perplexing film that also features Kurt Russell and Angelina LookingGlass.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

To think they have allowed him to enter the final year of his contract is perplexing - but that is where we are.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

The weakness in the won then, has been perplexing to many forex analysts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026

Through another, it’s a perplexing time to break into the existing-home sale market.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

By day, my grandmother expertly managed a thriving Bible bookstore on the Far South Side, but in her off-hours with Dandy she was reduced to a meekness I found perplexing, even as a young girl.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama